Hunted
by archer24
Summary: Edward is a writer in search of inspiration for his next set of novels. It's only when he meets a bounty hunter by the name of Bella that he finds it. Determined to make her his muse, he decides to follow her around...whether she likes it or not. AU AH
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT**

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><p>It was Sunday, his favorite day of the week.<p>

Whether it was because everything seemed a little bit calmer, people seemed to be a little more willing to smile, or because the line at the coffee shop wasn't packed with people rushing to work.

Edward decided it was the last one he liked best as he accepted the steaming macchiato from the pretty brunette across the counter with the cherry red lipstick. She winked at him and he gave her a grin, his day getting better by the moment.

He turned away from the counter and looked over the room for an empty seat, dismayed when he didn't see one. Every couch, stool, armchair, and other piece of eclectic furniture, probably picked up off the sidewalk or from a yard sale, was taken.

Then again, the number of people sitting in those chairs whose fingers were flying across keyboards, typing out what he sure they thought was the next bestseller, was overwhelming.

Edward thought about the laptop sitting heavily in his bag. Maybe it was a little too cliché, even for him.

Readjusting the bag on his shoulder, he made his way out of the shop and into the slightly overcast Seattle day. He was thankful that the rain had stopped some time this morning, leaving behind only fresh air and wet pavement.

The temperature had slowly been dropping, reminding him that summer was coming to a close and that fall was fast approaching, along with a deadline he really didn't want to think about.

The laptop sat heavier in his bag, digging into his shoulder. He pushed the deadline from his mind, telling himself that he would meet it.

The truth was, he had been in denial about his writer's block. Every time he was asked about his latest novel, he always told the same bull, that he was doing research. He told them that he was experiencing the world and waiting for creativity and inspiration to come upon him as it always did.

Or always used to anyways.

The only experiencing of the world that he had been doing was watching the travel channel on Thursday afternoons in his boxers or ordering Chinese take-out from the restaurant down the street.

He grimaced and took a careful sip from his drink, testing it with the tip of his tongue to see if he would be able to drink it without burning off his taste buds. Finding it safe, he took a large swig, smiling when it warmed him from the inside out.

He was licking foam from the corner of his mouth when he felt his pocket buzz. Digging out his phone, Edward brought the annoying piece of technology to his ear, somehow knowing that this was a call he did not want to take.

"Cullen." He answered, his attempt at being businesslike.

"Edward, where the hell are you?" She yelled, making him pull the phone away from his ear.

"Where am I supposed to be?" He answered, wracking his brain for a date he couldn't remember.

"In my office, convincing me not to let the publishers revoke your advance!" She yelled.

'_whoops.'_

He vaguely remembered a phone call a month or so ago and a post-it saying '11 AM, publisher' sitting beneath a pile of books on his desk at home.

"Of course I didn't forget, I'm just running a little late." He said, taking a quick sip of his drink.

"You better be here by 11:30." She said, not believing him for a second and hanging up.

He let out a groan; the last remnants of his hope of a good day were dashed. He checked his watch and bit back a swear word; he had 25 minutes to get across town.

And to top it all off, he wasn't even sure what he was going to tell her when he got there. She was expecting an extravagant story and another round of bestsellers, neither of which he had. All he had was scrambled thoughts and disorganized scraps of writing that were worthless, even by his standards.

He picked up his pace on the sidewalk, trying to get his brain to start working enough to come up with something adequate to keep the hounds at bay for just a little while longer.

'_Maybe I could try to sell them on another James Bond type book, they didn't think it was a great idea last time but who knows?'_ Edward thought to himself, shaking his head hopelessly

He started fishing in his bag to see if he had enough money on him to grab a cab and wasn't paying attention to the commotion that was approaching him. If he had then he probably wouldn't have fallen off balance when the first guy slammed into his shoulder as he sprinted past.

Edward stumbled, successfully managing to stop himself from falling off the curb into traffic, but more importantly, managing to keep his coffee steady. He turned to yell obscenities after the straggly guy in the red shirt who bumped him when another guy sprinted through the crowd after the first. This one was wearing black and was well muscled.

Now thoroughly confused, everyone was looking after them to see what was going on. A robbery maybe?

"Out of the way!" yelled a voice behind him.

Edward didn't quite put two and two together and figure out that a third person was running after the first two and automatically turned towards the noise behind him.

This time he was not able to hold onto his coffee.

She crashed into him squarely, sending them both tumbling to the ground. His coffee emptied its contents all down the fronts of both their shirts, immediately drenching them in sticky macchiato.

She landed mostly on top of him and he only caught sight of her face momentarily, deep chocolate colored eyes and long brown hair that framed a very pretty face.

He was mortified, "I am so sorry, I-"

But she had already pushed herself off of him and was running after the other two.

"Hey, wait!" He yelled after her, scrambling to his feet with as much dignity as possible.

The writer in him couldn't just let all the action pass by without further investigation, something that had gotten him into trouble more than a few times. He lived for stuff like this.

Hanging onto his shoulder bag to keep it from flying off, he took off after her.

He was weaving between the crowds of people on the sidewalk, yelling 'excuse me' and 'sorry' every time his bag clipped someone or he held up the flow of pedestrian traffic by stopping and craning his neck to catch a glimpse of which direction she was going.

He lost her for a moment but then caught her sprinting across the busy intersection, getting honked at but managing to avoid the traffic before vaulting over the hood of a parked car.

His eyes widened and he picked up his pace, his curiosity doubling.

He made it to the corner of the street and ran across the same intersection, though not quite as smoothly. Taxis had to slam on their breaks to keep from making him road kill. One came especially close and Edward jumped out of the way to keep from becoming a paraplegic.

"Sorry!"

Judging by all the honking and swear words being thrown his way he didn't think they accepted his apology.

By the time he made it to the other side of the street he was breathing heavily, his head swinging from side to side in search of her.

'_I really need to renew that gym membership.'_

He caught a glimpse of brown hair disappearing around a corner about thirty yards up.

'_Gotcha'_

Readjusting the bag on his shoulder he ran, paying no attention to the interesting looks he was receiving as people tried to get out of the way of the crazy, coffee covered man.

He rounded the corner of the alley just in time to see the muscled guy try to tackle the one in the red shirt. They went sprawling into the garbage and the red shirted one managed to scramble out of the other one's reach.

Edward watched as he ran to the fire escape and jumped for the ladder, his hands slipping once on the rain slicked metal before getting a better grip and scrambling up.

He had just made it to the flatter stair area when the girl came out of nowhere and jumped onto the ladder, climbing up after him with much more ease.

Edward jogged closer, not able to tear his eyes away and wanting to get a better look.

She was fast and nimble, gaining on the guy in the red shirt quickly, who at the moment happened to look back and see her. His face was alarmed and he tried to climb the stairs faster, his feet slipping with each step, his expression one of fear.

Spotting an open window, the guy was just about to duck inside when the girl grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him back onto the fire escape ledge.

Edward was holding his breath and craning his neck to see if he could catch what was going on. The muscled guy was a few feet away, copying Edward, obviously not liking his chances on the fire escape and waiting for a better vantage point.

The guy with the red shirt had scrambled to his feet unsteadily, his head swiveling from side to side for a way out and seeing none. Seeing no other option he lunged at the girl, optioning to go through her rather than around.

She sidestepped and ducked his wild throw, trying to keep her balance on the creaking platform without giving the guy a way of escape.

These were some of the most badass cops Edward had ever seen, assuming they even were cops. They weren't wearing uniforms, but maybe they were undercover or something. Edward's expression was torn between excitement and unease as he continued to watch, his imagination spinning wild ideas.

The guy dove for her again, this time it seemed like she was done playing games because she only partially moved and grabbed his shirt as he went past, propelling him to the ground behind her.

She must have underestimated the slipperiness of the platform, because not only did he slide across it when hitting the ground, he slid over it. He scrambled to grab onto the something, barely hanging onto the railing as the rest of his body dangled over the side, his legs kicking at a step that wasn't there.

Edward and the girl seemed to have the same thought because she dove for the guy, trying to grab on to the hand that was gripping the metal pole. She was a half a second too late and his fingers slipped off the wet railing and he fell.

If the platform had been another floor higher, then the guy probably wouldn't have survived the fall. As it was, however, Edward still cringed when he saw the guy hit the ground, his back hitting the cement and knocking the wind out of him. He wasn't on the ground for more than a second before the muscled one rolled him over and slapped cuffs on him, hauling him to an upright position, the guy in the red shirt groaning the entire time.

The girl jumped to the ground from the ladder, landing in a crouch easily, something that Edward couldn't imagine himself accomplishing with such fluidity.

He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off.

"Seth, you asshole! He's my skip!" She yelled, stomping over to the muscled guy with an angry look on her face.

"Snooze you lose." The other guy said smugly, leading the handcuffed guy towards the entrance to the alley where Edward noticed a car was idling, and it definitely was not a police car.

"Come on, you know how badly I need this one!" She yelled, following after him, an angry expression on her face.

"Well, I guess you shouldn't have stopped to get coffee then." He chuckled, clearly pleased with the cleverness of his joke.

She seemed confused for a moment before looking down at her shirt.

"Damn it." She said, apparently just noticing the large brown stain that was previously Edward's morning coffee. Edward shuffled his feet, deciding that it would probably be best to wait until they noticed him before he said anything.

The guy, Seth, shoved the limping one into the back seat of the car. "Mr. Alexander, I'm afraid you missed your court date and are in violation of your bond agreement, so we're just going to take a short trip to the police station." He said before slamming the door shut.

And then it clicked for Edward, they weren't cops at all, _'Bounty hunters! How cool is that!'_ Edward thought, getting more excited by the minute as he watched the exchange take place. He thought about pulling his notebook out but discarded the idea, not wanting to tear his eyes away.

The girl was fuming, her hands clenching and unclenching by her sides. Edward thought the angry look worked for her, beautiful but deadly.

"Catch you later." The guy, Seth, said to her with a smile before climbing into the passenger seat and still smiling as the car pulled away from the curb.

The girl was watching the car drive away with her arms crossed over her chest, fuming. Edward took the opportunity to take a real look at her, not getting the chance before when they shared his coffee. She was wearing form fitting pants and a t-shirt that, thanks to him, was sporting a large brown coffee stain. His eyes continued to travel and widened a little when he noticed the gun strapped to her waist next to a pair of handcuffs. It was probably the sexiest thing he'd ever seen, and he'd seen a lot.

Edward opened his mouth to introduce himself but was interrupted.

"Ten grand, out the window. Fantastic." She said angrily, throwing her arms up in the air for emphasis, looking like she wanted to punch something.

He cleared his throat. She turned to look at him, "What?" She snapped.

He took a step back out of reflex. "Ummm, I just wanted to apologize about the coffee and…."

She raised an eyebrow angrily.

"So…bounty hunter. That must be pretty cool." He trailed off lamely, mentally slapping his forehead.

'_Smooth, Edward.'_

She just rolled her eyes and turned, walking away without a word.

"Wait! Let me at least buy you a cup of coffee or a new shirt or something!" He yelled after her.

She barley turned her head, "Yeah, I don't think so." And then she was around the corner and out of sight.

Edward gazed after her with a smile, far too intrigued for his own good.

And then it hit him and he was so excited that he could barely stand still. He quickly glanced at his watch, seeing how much time he had left. If he ran he might just make it.

But even if he was a couple minutes late meeting his publisher he thought she would probably forgive him. Especially when he told her all about the his next book and the character it revolved around; a striking bounty hunter with brown hair, brown eyes, and a gun strapped to her waist

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><p><strong>AN: It's been a long time since I've started something, and didn't realize how much I've missed it until I finally had all of my thoughts together and put them to paper. If you've read my other stories, you may be starting to notice a theme, and if you enjoyed the others, then I hope this one lives up to your expectations. I've been planning it out for a while and I will try my hardest to update whenever I can.**

**So, to my dedicated readers, if you're still out there after all this time, let me know what you think, I'd love to hear from you. **

**~archer24**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT**

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><p>She was pissed. Actually, she was beyond pissed.<p>

Three days. Three days she spent searching for that guy, tailing people, and sleeping in her car.

And then, when she finally catches up with him, what happens? She loses him to another guy that was put on the same case.

Bail enforcement agents usually get to keep jobs to themselves, it's only when the boss get's really nervous, desperate, impatient, or some combination of the three that another bonds agent gets put on the case.

Nothing pisses her off more.

'_Except maybe having my shirt drenched with coffee.'_ She thought, looking down at her shirt and wishing for the hundredth time that she had another one to change into.

She continued walking down the block and around the corner to where her car was parked, where the chase had started.

She had been sitting in her car, watching the apartment building she was pretty sure held her skip, she hadn't wanted to go to the door because these buildings had tons of side exits that she didn't know about and would lose him quickly. So she had decided to wait until he left. She had been waiting a little over an hour when she saw Seth, she remembers doing a double take and then swearing before jumping out of the car.

Seth was one of the newer hired hands; he had just gotten off his last tour with the marines and was still learning to ins and outs of bounty hunting. He didn't know about the side exits so, naturally, he went right to the door. Just like Bella thought, the skip got one look at Seth and bolted back inside.

She had headed for the side alley, hoping that he would come out one of the doors there. It was just her luck that Seth spotted her and realized what she was doing.

He caught up to her at the exact moment that one of the alley doors opened and Mr. Alexander, a.k.a Bella's ticket to ten grand, saw them.

Seth and Bella had glanced at each other for a moment and then took off, both knowing that the race was on and it was no holds barred. She distinctly remembered some shoving, attempts at tripping, and some very nasty language.

Either way, he had gotten ahead of her when they had hit the main street and it had all pretty much gone downhill from there.

Bella grimaced at the stickiness of her shirt as she unlocked her car and got in, looking forward to giving Jasper a piece of her mind.

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><p>She was tempted to kick the door open, but held her temper and settled for shoving it open and letting it hit the wall loudly, startling Jessica at her desk.<p>

"Uh oh." Bella heard her say.

"Where is he?" Bella said, storming in.

"Ummm…" She said, leaning back in her chair, her eyes flicking to the back office.

Bella didn't give her a chance to say anything else and strode into his office, not bothering to knock.

Jasper looked up quickly from his desk when he heard the door open, cringing a little when he noticed it was her.

"What the hell, Jasper!" She yelled, fuming.

"Hey, I'm trying to run a business here. My money would have gotten forfeited in two days if he hadn't been caught! If you had brought him in sooner we wouldn't have this problem." He said, fiddling with something on his desk.

"I had him, he was right there. I would be bringing him in today if you hadn't added on someone else. Oh, and that's another thing, you send Seth! Do you have any idea how humiliating that is to be beat out by the new guy!" She yelled.

He shrugged, "He was in here earlier this morning looking for another job and I gave him the one you were working on. You've had it for almost a week now, it was a simple one too."

She narrowed her eyes.

"What happened to your shirt?" He asked.

She tried not to grind her teeth, "I swear to god Jasper, if we didn't know each so well and I if I wasn't friends with you, I'd punch you in the face." she said.

"If we didn't know each other so well and I wasn't friends with you, then you'd be out of a job and I'd probably have more money." He said, smiling.

Asshole.

"Look, what do want me to do? I need to get money collected and you know I don't like cutting it close with the deadlines." He said, a small bit of remorse showing on his face.

She sighed, "Just, give me a heads up next time."

"Where's the fun in that?" He asked as she walked out the door of his office.

"Here are a couple extra cases that came in." Jessica said, obviously having listened in on the shouting match and deemed it safe to hold conversation. She held out a stack of folders to Bella, who begrudgingly grabbed them on her way to the door.

"Where are you off to?"

"Shooting range."

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><p>When Edward stepped out the glass front doors of his publisher's office he had a smile of triumph on his face.<p>

They had loved it, every bit of it. He had only run into a problem when they began asking for more details about how it would go. That's when he had had to start thinking on his feet, using outdated knowledge from crappy TV shows to attempt to fill in the blanks about bounty hunting.

Either way, they had been happy, and he had been able to hold on to the advance they gave him. He was eternally grateful for that because he had already spent a large portion of it.

Edward was excited. To him, the best feeling in the world is having an idea that won't let you go until you've written it out and exhausted it. He hadn't had that feeling in a while and was thriving off of it now.

He wasn't an idiot though; they had given him two weeks to get the first few chapters to the editor, believing that he had already typed most of it out and that that would be no problem, he needed to start working on it now.

He knew that a fleeting moment wasn't going to inspire thousands of words to flow from his fingers. No, he was going to have to find her, get to know her, follow her, and go somewhere from there. And he was going to have to do it fast.

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><p>A few hours later, Edward read over the list one more time, unhappily crossing out the name of the place he had just left.<p>

Right after leaving the publisher's office he had gone home and searched for all the bail bonds places in the area. And that was going with the assumption that the one she worked for was even in the area. For all he knew, she could have been chasing that guy from Nebraska. God, he hoped not. He didn't think he'd enjoy a trip to Nebraska.

So he had written down all the places downtown and was making a trip to each one of them.

So far he had come up with zilch, and he was growing tired of people giving him strange looks when he walks in and starts describing her to them. Apparently, most bounty hunters aren't female, and the ones that are don't look like her.

The day continued to wear on and he could see the sun starting to head for the horizon. He was close to calling it quits for the day, his feet were sore and his stomach was growling, not satisfied by the minuscule lunch he had grabbed a few hours back. He had one more place in the area and decided that he would stop after that one.

He pushed the door open to 'J.H. Bail Bonds' and approached the front desk.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if you have an employee that works here, she's about this tall." He said, holding up his hand to just above his shoulder, "and has brown hair, brown eyes. Oh, and she may have had a coffee stain on her shirt this morning." he said, slightly sheepish.

The girl behind the counter blinked at him for a second.

Then, without a word she reached into a filing cabinet and brought out a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"All lawsuits are to be filed with this attorney, you have to fill out this paperwork and indicate what your complaint is before giving it to them." She said, sighing.

"She works here? The girl I described?" He asked, shocked beyond belief, and feeling relief flood through him.

"Yeah, that sounds like Bella. Right down to the coffee stain." She said, trying to hand the papers to him again.

"I'm not here to sue her." He said, and then after a moment, "Wait, does that happen a lot?"

She rolled her eyes and put the papers back, "More than you'd think. Or should be allowed."

He was grinning from ear to ear.

"So if you're not here to file charges against one of our more…determined employees, what are you here for?" She asked, actually curious.

He opened his mouth to respond when he heard a voice from the back office.

"Is that Edward Cullen?"

Edward looked up, confused, only to see none other than Jasper Hale poke his head out of the back office. Suddenly he understood what the 'J.H.' stood for in the company name.

Jasper came out of his office and shook his hand; Edward didn't think he could feel any more surprise that day as he looked at Jasper.

"Jeez man, how long has it been? Almost ten years?" Jasper said, just as shocked as Edward.

"Yeah, something like that. Last time I saw you we were graduating high school." Edward said, still looking at Jasper and shaking his head, too shocked to really react.

"Come on in to my office so we can catch up." Jasper said, leading him into the back room and closing the door. He sat down in the chair behind the desk and gestured for Edward to take one of the chairs opposite him.

Jasper and Edward had been friends in high school, hanging out occasionally but not close enough to keep in touch once they left.

"So you run a Bail Bonds place?" Edward asked, not quite sure if he's surprised.

"Yeah, it makes decent money if you do it right." He said, nodding around his office. Edward looked around too and decided he wasn't doing that bad.

"So I heard you're an author now, and a pretty good one at that. I thought you were going off to medical school and becoming some hot shot doctor." He said, leaning back in his chair with a smile.

Edward smiled too, "I had a change of heart a while back and decided that writing was more my style."

"You're telling me, I think I just read about you in the paper the other day. If that's the case, what are you doing at a bail bonds place, surely you've got enough to make bail." Jasper said, slightly confused.

"Oh, I'm not here for a contract. I'm actually looking for someone that works here, a girl, brown hair, brown eyes." Edward said, leaving out the coffee stain part.

This got him more confusion.

"Did Jessica not tell you about filing with the lawyers, she should have done that." He said, hitting the intercom button to get her attention with a look of concern on his face.

"I'm not here to sue her." Edward said, slightly concerned now.

"Oh, then what do you need?" He said, happily releasing the intercom button.

"Well, I'm writing another book on bounty hunters and I ran into her earlier today." Edward said, leaving out the 'literally' part, "So I was hoping to get to know her and follow her around for a bit."

Jasper stared at him for a moment, and then he started laughing. That's when Edward began to wonder what he was trying to get himself into.

Jasper was still laughing but managed to calm down enough to say, "You want to follow Bella around…and write a book about her."

Edward nodded._ 'Bella. Not the name I would have guessed.'_ he thought.

He laughed harder, "This is priceless. Seriously, thank you for the joke, it's been a crappy day and I really needed that."

"I'm serious." Edward said, getting a little ticked.

Jasper looked at him and realized that he was indeed serious and this sobered him up a bit.

"Dude, she'll kill you. After kicking your ass. Trust me, Bella doesn't play well with others." He said, actually warning Edward now.

"I think I'd rather find that out for myself." Edward said, his determination not faltering in the slightest.

Jasper looked at him for another moment, weighing options, "Look, whatever I say doesn't matter in this case. I have no control over her. So if you want to go out there and follow her around, good luck."

Edward started to smile and Jasper noticed it.

"But when you get shot, just know that it's probably not going to be by a bad guy, it'll probably be by her." He said, a hint of a smile on his face.

Edward stood up from his chair, "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

Jasper stood up too. "I can't wait to see this. All the guys are going to get a kick out of it."

They walked back out into the front reception area and Jasper spoke to Jessica, "What cases did you give to Bella this morning?" He asked, still smiling.

She clicked a few things on the computer, "Ummm, just the two that came in yesterday, nothing high priority." She paused, curiously looking at Edward, "Why?"

Jasper couldn't contain his smile, "Because my good friend Edward here is going to follow her around for research on his next book." He said, clapping Edward on the shoulder.

Jessica held the papers in front of her lips so that he wouldn't see her laughing.

"So, why don't you give him a copy of the folders so he can try and track her down." Jasper said, already walking back to his office.

Edward turned, "Wait, you don't know where she is?"

Jasper snorted, "The only time I know where she is, is when I owe her money, which means she's here."

Edward turned back to Jessica when she started talking, "Here, I threw in some stuff on her as well as some info on the two cases she's on." She said, handing him a folder. Her expression was one that said, 'Well, you seem determined so I'm not going to waste my breath telling you that this is a bad idea.'

"Thanks" He said brightly, undaunted by her dubious expression.

She pursed her lips, as he gripped the folder, obviously trying not to say something.

"What?" he asked.

She paused before looking him in the eye, "Have you ever thought about investing in Kevlar?"

* * *

><p>Bella had left the shooting range feeling much more relaxed than she had going into it. She had let off some steam and even tried out a few other guns before reverting back to her own Glock.<p>

She had gone home to change after that and had looked through the files given to her by Jessica, trying to decide where to start.

Neither of the cases was very exciting, one petty theft and the other for a teenager that thought it would be funny to try and steal a cop car.

She had chosen the petty theft one first, believing that the other guy she could pick up tomorrow. So she had packed a bag, grabbed her keys and headed for her car, preparing for a long night of sitting and waiting.

The file had given her a list of known associates of Mr. Swayne, and all addresses and places of work. His paperwork said that he had a lot of previous offenses and wasn't averse to carrying a weapon. She had dealt with a million like him and was hoping to have this one wrapped up quickly.

If there's one thing she had come to know as a bail enforcement officer it was that people are stupid. They always want to return home, or get something from home, or stay in contact with the people from home, which ninety percent of the time is what gets them caught.

Therefore, her first stop had been to the home address listed in the folder. She had knocked, waited a few minutes, knocked again, and then peeked in the windows. She didn't see much and had decided to flag down a neighbor as he got home.

"Hi, have you seen Mr. Swayne recently?" She asked.

"Can I ask whose asking?" He had said, looking at her with mild suspicion.

She had unclipped the badge from her belt and said, "I'm a bail enforcement officer with J.H. Bonds, I'm afraid Mr. Swayne missed his court date and I need to find him to reschedule it." She smiled.

It was always easier to phrase it like that, people generally don't like to rat on their neighbors if they know that she's going to slap cuffs on them and drag them to jail.

"Ummm, I think he left some time yesterday. Said he was taking a vacation somewhere." He said, scratching his head and handing her back her badge.

She nodded, used to getting this kind of answer, "Thanks, here's my card. If you see or hear from him can you give me a call?" She said, handing him one from her pocket.

He read it over while nodding, "You bet." Smiling at her again.

So all that left her sitting in her car in front of Mr. Swayne's brother's house.

She had seen the guy enter the house a few hours back and was not pleased with what she saw. He was a well-muscled guy, much larger than her, who looked like he would not be very nice towards someone who was hunting after his brother. She had watched through the front window as he took a handgun from his belt and put in a drawer, this gave her more motivation to stay put and learn as much as she could from a distance.

If Mr. Swayne was smart enough to not stay at home, he was probably smart enough not to stay at his brother's house, but that didn't mean his brother didn't know where he was. She was hoping that if she followed the brother, he might lead her to her skip.

The last thing she wanted to do was go up to the door and knock. For one thing, she would lose the element of surprise, something she felt like she would need in this situation, and for another, she was probably outgunned.

A couple more hours passed, she was flipping through the file for the hundredth time, occasionally glancing up to look at the house to make sure that nothing was happening. She looked up and did a double take, there was someone at the door.

She dug her binoculars out and looked toward the house.

She felt a brief flash of disappointment when it wasn't her skip, followed by another flash of confusion.

'_Wait a second…isn't that…'_

She wracked her brain to bring up an image of earlier that morning.

She was still looking through the binoculars when Mr. Swayne's brother opened the door and started talking to the guy.

Suddenly his head looked up and started angrily looking for something, his eyes falling on her.

"Oh shit." She said, watching as the guy disappeared inside the house.

She was out of the car and running across the street before the front door even closed.

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><p>Edward had used the files given to him to start another search, this time feeling much more optimistic.<p>

He only had a few addresses to work with so he decided to work by process of elimination.

The first few addresses on the list had been a few homes that were all pretty much deserted, no cars in the driveways and no one on the streets. He wasn't completely sure what it was that he was planning on doing; he was mostly hoping that he'd find her at one of the addresses talking to people. Then he would be able to introduce himself, tell her about the situation, and they would go from there.

So when he pulled up to the next address on the list he was pleased to see that there were cars in the driveway. This stop already looked a lot more promising than any of the others. He parked his car and walked up to the door, knocked a few times and hoped that someone was home.

He smiled when the door was opened by a muscly guy with a scowl on his face.

"What do you want?" The guy asked impatiently.

"Hi, I was wondering if you could help me out. I'm looking for a girl, she's about this tall, brown hair, brown eyes, she's a bounty hunter with J.H. Bail Bonds."

If he was expecting a reaction, it was not the one he received.

The guy went into a rage; "Bounty hunter?" head had whipped up and started looking all around. Edward took a step back out of reflex.

Then the guy had turned around and gone back into the house, slamming the door behind him, saying something along the lines of, "Fucking bounty hunters, my brother didn't do a goddam thing. There's no way in hell some stupid bounty hunter is taking him back to jail!"

Edward wasn't sure what to make of that reaction.

He was starting to think something along the lines of, _'Maybe that wasn't such a good idea'_ when someone shoved him from the side. He stumbled and turned to see who shoved him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" She yelled in a whisper, her eyes furious.

Edward recovered from his stumble and his eyes widened, "Holy crap, it's you." He would realize later that that was not the greatest opening line.

"Were you following me or something?" She asked, and then seemed to forget about her question, "What did you say to him!"

"Nothing. Listen, I've been looking all over for you-." He started, but was quickly interrupted by her.

"I don't know how you got here, but you need to leave. Right now." She said, her eyes glancing to the door once, trying to keep her tone hushed.

"Hang on a sec. I've spent the entire day tracking you down and asking people if they've seen a you, I'm tired, hungry and impatient, so I'm not about to just leave." He said defiantly.

"You asked people what!" She asked, no longer bothering to be quiet.

It was then that they both heard the unmistakable sound of someone loading a pump action shotgun.

There was a moment when they paused and looked at each other. And then they were running, trying to put as much distance between the house and themselves as possible.

"Wait!" Edward yelled, trying to catch up to her, not about to let her get away now that he found her.

She ignored him and kept going, trying to keep her head down as she reached her car, sliding in and starting it up in one fluid motion.

"Wait! I need to talk to you!" He said, running around to the passenger side of her car and trying the door. Locked.

"Please!" He asked. He nervously glanced up at the house.

"No. No way." She said, shaking her head as she looked at him through the window.

"Oh, come on."

"Definitely not."

They both looked across the street when the front door opened and the guy came out, shotgun in hand.

"Get in."

He heard the car unlock and hesitated for a moment.

"Get in!"

He jumped and quickly climbed into the passenger side as the car lurched out of the spot. She pressed her foot to the gas and they sped off.

"You're going to tell me exactly who the hell you are, and how you found me." She said, turning the corner on a dime, an unhappy expression on her face.

"Yeah, definitely." He said, not taking his eyes off the road as she drove like a bat out of hell.

It took a while for him to get his heart rate under control. He realized that he had been gripping the edge of the seat with each quick turn she made and gritting his teeth. He had a million thoughts running through his head, questions he wanted to ask, he realized that this was most exciting night he'd had in a while and he had known her for less than a day. That thought alone brought a smile to his face.

She put more and more distance between them and the house, no longer flooring it, but not slowing down either. There was silence in the car for a while as she drove, each lost in their own thoughts as city lights reflected off the hood of the car.

"I'm Edward, by the way."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter; hopefully this one was a good follow up. I wanted to point out that I take inspiration from a lot of different places and some of you noticed similarities to the show Castle (which is a fantastic show); you'll definitely be seeing more of that. And congrats to the few of you who were able to spot the Stephanie Plum series similarity, you will see that in here as well. Like I said, I take inspiration from all over the place and put it all together. Anyways, the story is going to get even more exciting from here, so I hope you'll continue to read on.**

**~archer24**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT**

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><p>She drove him to a twenty-four hour diner with florescent lights in the window advertising their first-class coffee and all day breakfast special.<p>

He shrugged as he followed her into the restaurant and slid into one of the vinyl booth seats opposite her. He smiled at the waitress and received a blush in return when she handed him his menu.

He had been flipping through it for a few moments before he looked up and noticed that Bella hadn't touched hers, and that she was staring at him, contempt in her eyes. His eyes glanced around for a moment before he put his down as well.

"Why don't you start by telling me who you are and why you decided to mess with my job." She said, a look in her eyes that told him joking would be a mistake.

He nodded and said, "I'm Edward. Edward Cullen."

He paused, waiting for that look of recognition to flash in her eyes when she figured out where she'd heard the name. At least, this is what he had come to expect from most people.

She didn't blink.

"I'm a writer… I write novels for a living. Mostly mystery, but I throw some other stuff in there too..."

She still had no reaction and he began to fiddle with the silverware set in front of him. He couldn't remember the last time he had had to actually really introduce himself. "Maybe you've heard of some of the things I've written, like-"

"This isn't explaining anything to me. Like why you went around telling everybody and their mother that I'm a bounty hunter." She said, now showing the anger that she had obviously been trying to control. He noticed that a couple of people looked their way at her outburst.

"Whoa, hang on, it was just a couple people. And like I told you before, I was looking for you." He said, defending himself.

"So you follow me and decide to knock on the door of a relative of one of my skips! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of." She said.

"Hey, I only did that because I figured you had already talked to the guy, I didn't know he'd go all psycho. And I wasn't following you, Jasper gave me the files." Edward said, picking up his menu again, opening it and perusing his options.

She slammed it back to the table, "He what!"

"Yeah, we were buddies in high school, I tracked you down to the bonds office- not an easy task by the way, I've got a blister on the bottom of my foot from all the walking I did today."

"I'm going to kill him." She said, sitting back in her seat.

Edward shrugged, "By the way, do people sue you a lot? Because that was the feeling I was getting when I was there."

She narrowed her eyes at him and opened her mouth the retort when the waitress came back.

"What can I get for you two?" She asked, pen at the ready, looking at Edward.

"Coffee for me." Bella answered, not taking her eyes off Edward.

"Same." Edward said, closing the menu and handing it to the waitress with a smile. He wasn't sure but he could have sworn he saw Bella rolling her eyes out of the corner of his eye.

"Why were you looking for me in the first place?" She asked, suspicion in her eyes. He realized he liked the way the corner of her eyes crinkled when she was angry.

"Well, after running into you earlier this morning- sorry about that by the way- I decided to write my next set of books about bounty hunters." He said, smiling.

She was still looking at him, "And what does that have to do with you stupidly following me around and messing up my case?"

"I just told you, I want to base the next book off a bounty hunter, specifically a female bounty hunter." He said, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

And then he saw it click in her eyes.

"Oh, hell no." She said.

Not the reaction he was expecting.

"Wait, you haven't even heard the best part!"

She raised an eyebrow.

"I'd work as a partner for you, we'd catch the bad guys together, make you lots of money, while I get lots of research." He said, smiling.

She looked at him for a beat before turning and gesturing to the passing waitress, "I'll take that coffee to go, please."

"Wait, hang on." He said, standing up when she did.

She started searching her pockets for money to pay for the two coffees and patted his pockets in search of his wallet, finally digging it out of the pocket of the jacket.

After throwing a couple of bills down she grabbed the to-go cup from the waitress as she walked by and went out the door. He ran after her, trying to zip his jacket up in the process.

"Sir, your coffee?" The waitress said, holding a cup for him as well.

"That's okay, thank you though!" He yelled as he ran out the door after her. The cold Seattle air hit him as the door shut behind him. She was almost at the car when he jogged over.

"Wait, hang on a second." He said, coming up to her, immensely happy that it wasn't raining.

"If you think I'm going to let you follow me around, you're crazy." She said, opening her door.

He closed it before she could open it all the way.

"Hey!" She yelled, and he leaned against the door before she could open it again.

"Look, I don't think it's that unreasonable. It doesn't even have to be for that long. Jasper knows and trusts me, so you know I'm not some crazy person. And even if I was, you're carrying a gun on your belt and I've seen you take down a guy twice your size, so I don't think you have anything to fear from me." He said, trying to sound convincing.

She was standing there with her arms crossed, not budging.

"Look, I'll listen to you, do whatever you tell me to do so that I don't get in the way." He said, trying to convince her.

"Ummm…I'll pay for all your meals, everything. I heard you say you needed money." He said, smiling a little.

"Move out of my way." She said, angry now, moving towards him. Apparently she was a little sensitive about that part.

He put his hands up in front of him.

"Wait. From what I've seen, you operate alone. I get that. But what I also see is that if you had a partner, you would have gotten that guy today. The other guy did, someone was driving that car for him, that's what you need and that's what I'm offering. For free." He said, scrambling to get her to listen.

"You have no experience. You can't even watch where you're going when you walk down the street or have enough common sense not to tell the world that there's a bounty hunter nearby." She said, throwing her arms up in the air, still angry about that.

"You're still angry about that?" He asked.

"You're damn right I'm still angry about that! Do you have any idea how much more effort I have to put into this case now!" She yelled.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." He said, putting his hands up in front of him in a surrendering gesture.

"But think about it this way, if you let me follow you I'd be listening to what you tell me to do, you can show me what to do so that I'll stay out of the way."

She was still shaking her head.

He only had one more card to play.

"Look, you've seen how persistent I can be. I tracked you down in less than a day. I found out where you work, your name, where you are, and what cases you're on. If you don't let me go with you, you can be sure that I'm going to show up anyways. And I'm pretty sure that that would be worse for you. I'll go around from house to house telling everyone who you are." He said, crossing his own arms.

She was angry now, but he could see her thinking about it. Tossing the idea around in her mind and weighing her options. It was almost like she was trying to decide if he was serious or not, and how much money she would lose if he were to do it.

Moments passed, multiple cars had driven by and people had come and gone.

She was glaring at him.

Then she sighed, and said something suspiciously like, "Damn it."

She shoved him to the side and opened her door, without looking at him said, "Six AM, here."

"What? You'll do it?" He asked, smiling as she closed the door.

She didn't look happy as she started the car.

"This is awesome! Wait, can I get a ride?" He asked.

She looked at him through the window as she said, "Get a cab." Before throwing it into reverse and backing out of the parking spot and driving out of the lot.

He was still smiling as he saw her taillights fading away and he pulled out his cell phone.

* * *

><p>The morning was crisp and the sun was just beginning to rise when she pulled her car into the parking lot the next morning at six o'clock AM. She was not expecting him to be there, and she was definitely not expecting him to be there with a smile on his face and two cups of coffee in hand.<p>

He was leaning against the front of the building, his smile widening when she parked the car and got out with a sigh. She had hoped he wouldn't show, that maybe there was a small amount of common sense in his head. Apparently not.

She was hoping that if she let him tag along with her he'd realize how dangerous it was sooner or later. She mentally reminded herself to ask Jasper for something tougher than what she had now.

As she walked towards him, she looked him over. He had to be in his late twenties, copper brown colored hair, and he appeared to be in pretty good shape. Despite what she let him believe, she did know of him. She had seen his face plastered all over the newspapers and magazines over the last year. She could understand why he was so popular with the waitress last night. She tried not to think about what she was getting herself into.

"Good morning." He said, handing the cup of coffee to her, which she took because she needed it, not because she wanted it. Or at least, that's what she told herself.

He was still smiling and she was still scowling. She never could understand morning people. She took a hesitant sip of her coffee and found that it was good; he definitely had not gotten it from the diner behind him.

"Are you still serious about doing this?" She asked, hoping that he'd say no.

"Definitely. I brought breakfast too, but just in case you're thinking about leaving without me again I'll hang on to it until we go." He chuckled. She rolled her eyes, trying not to pay attention to the fact that she actually was hungry.

"Well, come on then." She said with exasperation, walking back to her car.

He got in beside her and put on his seat belt, looking around the inside of the car.

"I expected you to have a more badass car. You know, something that fits your personality more." He said, taking a sip of his own coffee.

She almost cracked a smile. "Badass cars attract a lot of attention. Something I try not to do."

She pulled out of the lot and started driving.

"So where are we off to first?" He asked, excited like a kid in a candy store. "We going to kick someone's door in? Drag some bad guys to the nearest police station?"

She looked over at him with a look of incredulity, believing that he must have a few screws loose.

"Hardly. We're going to get your car." She said, turning a corner. "If you need to meet me somewhere, I can't have you showing up in a cab all the time."

He was silent and she looked back over at him.

"You mean the one that's parked in front of the house with the guy with the shotgun?"

"Yeah. Do you have more than one?" She asked, joking.

"Yeah, actually, and he can keep that one." He said, no longer smiling.

She rolled her eyes.

"Well, too bad. You're getting it back." She said, with a slight hint of bitterness to her tone. "I can't have it sitting in front of his house."

"Heck no, I'm not getting it. You're the one with the ninja skills." He said, looking over at her with wide eyes.

She had a feeling she was going to be rolling her eyes continuously until this was over. Or she was going to shoot him.

It didn't take long to get back there with no traffic on the streets. She parked the car a few cars back and turned to him.

He didn't move and continued to sit there shaking his head.

"Relax, he's not even there." She said, rummaging through the bag of food he brought.

"How do you know that." He asked, looking at her.

"Because I came back here last night in the hope of saving some of the case I'm on, but found that you had effectively ruined it and now he's gone." She said, reminding herself to breathe and release her tight grip on the bag.

He was silent for a moment, "Sorry about that." He opened the door and hesitated, "Are you sure he's not there?"

"Just go get the damn car." She said, trying to keep herself from hitting him.

He quickly got out and shut the door behind him. She watched as he carefully walked towards his car, keeping his eyes on the house.

He ducked behind the row of hedges in front of the house and she rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that morning.

"Jesus Christ." She mumbled to herself, wondering what she had gotten herself into as she took a bite out of the coffee cake.

He had been hiding behind the bush for a couple minutes when she'd had enough. She honked her horn and he jumped about a foot in the air.

"Let's move, I don't have all day!" She yelled when he glared back at her.

She saw him digging his keys out of his pocket before taking a deep breath and sprinting for the car.

She couldn't stop the laugh that came out of her mouth when he dropped the keys and had a panic attack. He finally got the door open and was starting the car a few moments later.

'_Well, at least he makes things entertaining."_

She followed him easily as he practically peeled out of the parking spot and down the street, shaking her head at his idiocy.

She followed him for a while until he pulled over and she pulled her car alongside his.

Rolling down the window, she looked over at him, "You sure you wanna do this? If this is how you freak out when there's no one there, I'd hate to see you up against a real person."

He glared at her.

"Did you have to honk?" He asked.

She just shrugged, a small smile on her lips. "Why don't you drive home, I'm not going to be doing anything exciting today."

"Oh no, definitely not, you're not getting rid of me that easily." He had a look of determination on his face.

"Alright, follow behind me then." She said, wondering if she would ever be able to get rid of him.

* * *

><p>She drove to the local mall and parked in one of spots, waiting for Edward to pull his car up alongside hers before getting out. She looked at her own car and noticed the price difference between them and tried to not to grind her teeth.<p>

He followed her, looking around, "What are we doing here?"

"We are here because of another case." She said, throwing a file at him that he managed to catch without too much trouble.

He opened the folder and skimmed the contents, "This guy's just a kid." He said, looking at her, confusion on his face.

"Yeah, one that thought it would be hilarious to try and steal a cop car. They tend to get touchy about things like that and arrest people for doing it." She said, walking past him. Cases like this were more common than most people thought, stupid decisions that lead to bad situations.

"I thought you went after badass criminals who were running from murder and robbery charges." He said, cracking a smile.

"Usually, but I'm in need of some fast cash and this is what was available." She said grudgingly. She thought briefly about how the case he complicated wasn't going to be so fast anymore and had to squash the desire to punch him.

He closed the folder with a 'snap', knocking her back into the moment, "Alright, then how do we get him."

"_We_ are not doing anything. _I_ am going to go get him." She said, taking the folder back, "You are just here to observe, remember."

"Doesn't mean I can't help." He said, smiling at her with those perfect white teeth.

"Yes, because you were so fearless when you were trying to get your car." She said, pulling a pair of sunglasses out and putting them on. It was finally bright enough out that she needed them and the sun was peaking out from behind the clouds that told her rain was in the near future, all the more reason to get this over with now.

"Where's your gun, by the way." He asked as she went around and rummaged around in the trunk of her car for something. She had put the weapon away earlier, locked up and out of view

"In the car, definitely not necessary for this one." She said, pulling something else out of the trunk and strapping it to her waist.

"What's that?" He asked, trying to get a closer look. She had to put a hand to his chest to stop him from getting too close.

"Maybe you'll find out." She responded, closing the trunk and adjusting her sunglasses with a smirk.

She saw his mouth twitch into a smile, "So how are _you_ getting this guy."

"According to his mother, who is currently unhappy with her son's recent behavior, Jason works the morning shift at the fast food joint down the street and swings by here for breakfast before." She said. "I'm going to try and intercept him, it's early enough that I shouldn't have too much trouble with crowds. I go up to him, tell him he missed his court date and that he has to reschedule."

"Sounds easy enough. Couldn't anyone do that? Why don't they just send a cop to pick him up?" He asked, looking at her.

She snorted, then she had an idea, "Alright, you say you wanna help out, why don't you get him, bring him to me."

"Seriously?" He asked, obviously surprised that she was telling him to partake in any part of it.

"Yeah, like you said, this is an easy one." She said, shrugging for emphasis. "My ninja skills aren't needed here, he's just a kid."

"Okay, where's he supposed to be?" He asked, looking around.

She pointed, "Right over there." And sure enough, her skip was walking out of the mall doors with a bag of food and a drink in each hand.

"Right, be right back." He said, smiling at her.

She smiled and leaned against the car, "Go get 'em."

* * *

><p>Edward was excited; this would be his first apprehension and he was savoring every moment of it.<p>

So far he thought things were going swimmingly with Bella. True, he had kind of trapped her into it, but he didn't think it was that bad of a deal. She got a partner, free food, his company, and he got inspiration for his writing.

He was still smiling and had to put on a serious expression when he walked up to the kid, trying to remember the name on the file.

"Jason Cravey?" He asked, looking at the kid that couldn't be any more than 18 years old and was already in his bright purple collared shirt and visor for working the counter at the fast food restaurant. Edward sort of felt bad for him.

The kid paused, "Yeah…?"

"I'm afraid you're in violation of your bond agreement and missed your court date. You're going to need to come with me to reschedule it." He said, impressed with how official he sounded.

The kid looked at him, then a second later he threw what he was carrying at Edward and bolted.

"Hey!" Edward yelled angrily, barely managing to avoid the blue slushy that had been thrown at his head.

He chased after the kid, who had opened the door to the mall and sprinted inside. Edward followed and ran inside after him, already thinking that this was not the way that it was supposed to have gone.

The kid ran into the nearest shop and sprinted through the aisles of women's clothing in an attempt to lose Edward, whom he kept glancing back at to see if he was still following.

Edward kept his eyes on his target as he unsuccessfully tried not to run into display stands and mannequins.

When Jason noticed how close he was, he started throwing things back at him, jackets, shirts, and hangers, knocking over entire stands in order to stop him. Edward cursed and dodged the shelf of shoes that had almost crashed on top of him. He was sure that security would be all over them any second, dragging him off to jail as well.

Edward tripped over a shoe stand that had been overturned in front of him and grumbled as he found himself in a pile of high heels. This kid was dead.

Jason ran out of the store and into the main part of the mall, scaring the few people who were there that early. They scrambled and watched as Edward raced after him. Edward bumped into a few of them and apologized as he continued to try and chase the kid down, once again reminded of how out of shape he was.

"Jason, stop running! You just need to reschedule your appointment!" Edward yelled, hoping to convince the kid to stop. No such luck.

Jason had made it to the other side of the mall and the other outside exit, running out of the store and back out to the street.

Edward let out a aggravated sound and followed, angry that a scrawny kid was showing him up. He chased him back outside, his feet pounding on the pavement as he chased him into the parking garage. His breathing was coming heavily now and he could feel sweat starting to collect on his brow.

The kid was trying to fish something out his pocket; Edward assumed they were car keys and hurried to catch up, knowing he would lose him if he got into a car.

Jason had gotten them out of his pocket and was full out sprinting for his car, Edward put in a last bit of energy to try and catch up to him.

He was still a good five feet away when Bella came out of nowhere.

Like a ghost she appeared in front of Jason from behind a pillar and must have scared him because he lost his balance. She used that against him and used her arm to clothesline him in the stomach and send him flying onto his back, effectively knocking the wind out of him.

"Hi there." She said standing over him with a smile, "I'm here to take you in because you missed your court date. And please don't try to run again, because I'm in much better shape than he is and I come equipped with a taser."

Both this kid's and Edward's eyes slid to her waist.

"Okay then, let's get moving." She said, hauling the kid up to his feet and wasting no time in handcuffing him.

Edward was still slightly out of breath, "How did you know he'd run over here?" He asked.

She jerked her thumb to the beat up Toyota behind her. "I figured the kid would probably come to his car at some point, I looked up the plate number in the file and looked for it while you were off playing tag."

"Did you know he was going to run?" He asked, piecing it together that she had probably planned all of this.

She shrugged with a smile, "I had a hunch. And my hunches are usually correct."

He was bent over, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"You regretting this yet? Feel free to leave." She said, leading Jason away.

He looked up at her with a grin.

"Not a chance."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks for all of you who stuck around for the second chapter; I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story because I'm having fun writing it. I love getting reviews from readers, they really encourage me to keep writing and posting chapters. So let me know what you thought of this one, what you think will happen, or what you'd like to see. :)**

**~archer24**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT**

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><p>With the kid stuffed in the back of her car and the doors locked, Bella took off, Edward following close behind in his own car.<p>

He had asked where they were going, and she had just told him to follow her. He surprisingly didn't keep pestering her for a better answer. She thought this was probably because she hadn't told him to go home.

She turned her car towards the main road and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

It only rang once before they picked up.

"5th District Police Station, how can I help you?"

"Hey Charlotte, it's Bella, I've got another one for you." She said.

"Alright, who've you got?" Charlotte asked, Bella could hear her typing away at the keyboard in front of her.

Bella glanced at the open folder lying on the seat next to her, "Jason….Cravey." She said, pulling her eyes from the folder and back to the road.

"Got it. I'll let someone know to let you in the back. You know the drill." She said.

"That I do. Oh, and let them know there's going to be a second car behind me. Thanks." She said, hanging up the phone before Charlotte could start asking questions and throwing it beside her.

"Listen, you don't have to do this." She heard Jason say from the back seat.

She ignored him.

"Seriously, I'm sure you have better things to do, other people to hunt down." He sounded desperate.

"You're right. I do have better things to do." She said, speeding up a little, "But see, I already went through all the effort of hunting you down and handcuffing you and it would be a waste to just let you go. Plus, if I just let you go, the guy that chased you will throw a fit and I'll have to listen to him complain for the rest of the day." She said, making a right turn and not looking at him.

"I could give you money. You can't be getting that much for turning me in." He said.

She snorted, "Kid, you work at a fast food restaurant and drink blue raspberry slushies for breakfast. I really don't think you've got much money to give."

He was silent after that, for which she was thankful.

She pulled up to the police station and waited until the attendant hit the button to open the automatic gate, sitting there until enough space was open for her to get through.

She pulled forward and put the car in park, watching as Edward did the same beside her. She heard the sound of the side door unlocking and got out of the car, waiting to see which officer came out to collect her skip.

She didn't recognize him when he walked out. He had sandy blonde hair and a bright smile. She figured him for a rookie when she saw how clean his uniform was and the way his smile kept up.

"Bella Swan?" He asked.

She nodded and opened the door to the back seat and dragged Jason out. She handed him over to the shiny officer.

The officer cleared his throat and said, "I've heard quite a few stories about you."

She grimaced.

He caught her expression and said quickly, "No, not like that. I meant that I'm impressed. Not many people could do what you do."

"Thanks?" She said, slightly confused.

'_He must be brand new.'_

He smiled even brighter.

"You have to come inside, right? To get the paperwork and everything?" He asked, even though he probably already knew.

She nodded.

She saw Edward watching them and that he was about to get out of his car.

"Wait here." She told him, not wanting to watch him and make sure that he didn't do something stupid inside.

He frowned and sat in his seat, she was him mouthing, 'Oh, come on', as she walked behind the rookie officer.

She followed him inside the side door of the station and down the hall to the front desk where Charlotte sat.

"Hey Bella, how's it going?" She asked.

"Could be better." She said, thinking about Edward sitting in his car.

Charlotte nodded as if she could sympathize, "I see you've met Greg, our newest recruit."

Greg beamed at Bella and nodded as he corralled Jason into the back, giving her a wave. Charlotte was trying not to smile and was failing completely.

"What?" Bella asked.

"Nothing." She said, grinning as she typed away.

Bella decided to ignore her and leaned against the counter and waited for her to print out the papers she needed. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh, turning her head from side to side to get the tension out.

"You need a boyfriend. You wouldn't be so tense if you had one." She heard Charlotte say, hearing the smirk in her voice.

Her eyes snapped open. She was about to retort when the side door opened and Edward walked in.

"I thought I told you to wait in the car." Bella said.

"I got bored." He said as way of explanation.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

She turned to collect the papers from Charlotte and saw the expression on her face as she looked between Edward and her.

"No. I know what you're thinking. No." Bella said, snatching the papers from Charlotte's hands, wanting to get rid of that damn smirk that was on her face.

"What?" Edward asked.

"Nothing." Bella snapped, "Let's go." She said, storming outside the room. She walked down the hall quickly with him right on her tail.

"Are you mad because I came inside? Sorry, sitting in a car is boring and I thought you might need saving from the Office McFlirty." He said.

"He wasn't flirting, he was being nice." She said, glancing back at him.

"You must not get out much." He muttered, she glared back at him before opening the door and looking outside.

It had started raining while she was inside and she stopped on the threshold as she thought about what she was going to try and get done that day.

She made up her mind and turned to him, noticing that he had been staring at her with a curious expression on his face.

"Why don't you go home and we can call it quits for today." She said.

"What? No way! It's still super early." He protested, just like she expected.

"Look, I'm not doing this to get rid of you. As much as I'd like to, I'm doing this because what I'm going to do now isn't very safe and I can't do it if I have to be watching you constantly. And I obviously can't trust you to wait in the car." She said.

"I promise I'll stay out of the way." He said.

She leveled her eyes at him.

"Oh, come on. Please." Throwing in a smile, "I'll just follow you there anyways."

She raised an eyebrow, "You really think I don't know how to lose a tail?"

His smile dropped and he looked crestfallen.

She stared at him for a moment and knew she was going to regret it the minute she changed her mind.

She sighed, "Fine, do you promise to stay out of the way?"

"Absolutely." He said, bright smile back in place.

She didn't believe him for a second.

"Okay, I've gotta grab a couple of things then. Why don't you go drop your car off somewhere and then catch a cab to meet up with me in a couple hours." She said, looking out at the rain with an unhappy expression.

He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.

"I'm not leaving without you. I just can't have another car with us, especially one as flashy as yours." She said, guessing correctly that he was about to complain because he shut his mouth.

She was about to step into the rain when he grabbed her arm and said, "Wait, where are we meeting up?"

She looked down at his arm and he quickly took it back. She grabbed a pen from her pocked and scribbled on an old receipt she had with it, handing it to him without a word.

She didn't look back at him as she stepped out into the rain. She was almost to her car when her hand came up to rub at her arm where he had grabbed her, trying to ignore its sudden warmth.

* * *

><p>Exactly two hours later Edward sat outside the address that she had written down. It was a small bakery that showed everything from jelly filled donuts to croissants in the window and the world's greatest coffee judging by the sign in the window.<p>

He was thankful that the shop had an awning, underneath which he sat on a bench clutching a brown paper bag and two drinks while trying not to get wet from the rain that was pouring down.

He had been checking his watch every five minutes.

'_She said two hours, right?'_ He tried to think if he had heard something different.

He glanced at his watch, it was now ten after and he was starting to get worried.

'_Maybe she decided to leave me behind. I wouldn't put it past her.'_ He thought with a frown, shifting in his seat and glancing at his watch again.

At fifteen after he was wondering what he was going to do since it was looking like she had ditched him.

'_I mean, I can't really blame her. After what happened with the first time when I spilled coffee on her, and then when I told the guy she was a bounty hunter, and then when I didn't stay in the car at the police station…'_

He was getting less and less hopeful as time wore on and was beginning to think about what he was going to when bright headlights make him look up.

She parked the car in the spot near where he was sitting and got out of the car, walking towards him.

"What are you smiling about?" She asked, standing a little ways away from him.

He hadn't realized that his face had split into a grin when he saw her. "Nothing."

She rolled her eyes.

"What's that?" She asked, gesturing to the bag.

"What? Oh, I grabbed us lunch. I figured you probably haven't eaten, and I know I haven't really eaten anything today, so I thought…" He ended with a shrug.

"Oh. Thanks." She said, and he was happy that he was able to actually surprise her for once.

"So where are we headed?" He asked.

She shook her head to clear whatever she had been thinking from it and said, "you'll see."

He shrugged, knowing by now that he wasn't going to get an answer out of her until she wanted to give it to him.

"Alright, then what did you have to get before meeting me here?" He asked, hoping that she'd answer a question eventually.

She placed the food inside the car and went around to the trunk and rummaging around. He tried to look over her shoulder but couldn't figure out what she was looking for.

Finally without raising her head, she tossed something back at him.

He caught it and held it at arms length to see what it was.

"A bullet proof vest?" He asked, his curiosity increasing about what they were doing.

"Yep." She said, raising her head and closing the trunk. "You're going to put that on now and not take it off until you get home, clear?"

"What's this hole?" He asked, putting his finger through a small hole near the shoulder.

She shrugged and walked past him, "It's already been broken in."

He cringed and tried not to think about that too much as he slid it on.

* * *

><p>An hour or so later they were sitting inside her car a block away from the crappy apartment they were watching. The rain was beating down heavily, but not heavy enough to obstruct her vision. The engine was turned off and she could hear it falling onto the top of her car steadily.<p>

She was keeping her eyes trained on the building as she sat back in her seat and finished off the last of the drink he had gotten her. She was curious how he knew what kind of sandwich she liked, but not curious enough to ask and listen to him explain how he knew so much stuff about her.

He was starting to fidget next to her and had begun asking questions about her to pass the time.

"So, you've called them skips a few times. Why is that?" He asked.

"They skip out on their court date, somewhere along the line someone decided to start calling them skips." She said blandly by way of explanation.

He nodded, either thinking about her answer or his next question.

"Do you like being called bounty hunter? Or do you prefer another title?" He asked.

"Bail enforcement officer is usually better. Or skip tracer. But bounty hunter is the term that's most recognized. So I guess it depends." She answered, not tearing her eyes away even when he turned to face her further.

It was a couple minutes of silence before he asked the next one.

"What are most of the bad guys you track down running from?" He asked, encouraged now that she was answering questions. She was wondering why it wasn't bothering her more.

"Theft is a really common one, or drug related cases, sometimes violent ones. Sometimes they're for really violent things but if the crime is really bad the person doesn't even get the option of bail." She said absentmindedly, squinting to get a better look at the person who was walking in front of the building and then disregarding them.

"What do you do if your skip decides to take a trip to Canada or Mexico?" He asked, still watching her.

She snorted, "Depends how much they're worth. If they're small change then I try to call some friends I know and don't worry about it much. But if they've got a big price tag above their head then I go myself."

"Why only if they're worth a lot?" He asked, she could hear the curiosity in his voice.

"Because if I catch a skip within the US and the police find me, then they take the person off my hands and I get paid. If I go over the international border, to say Canada, and the Canadian police find me with a skip as I'm on my way back, I get arrested for kidnapping." She said, taking note of all the cars that were driving by them.

"Oh." Was his response.

There was silence in the car for a moment and she heard the rain transform from a steady pour to a light drizzle on the roof of her car.

"Have you ever done that?" He asked.

She ignored the question, "Time to go." She said, spotting what she was looking for.

Edward frowned before following her gaze and looking through the front window.

"Is that the guy that shot at us yesterday?" He asked.

"Yep, though he never actually got a shot off." She replied watching as her skip's brother got into a car and drove away.

She waited until he was around the corner before opening her door and stepping outside.

Edward followed, glancing at the apartment she had been watching for the last hour.

"Is the skip in there?" He asked, watching her as she went around to the back of the car and opened the trunk.

"How did you know he was in there?" He asked, still asking questions.

"I have my ways." She responded cryptically.

"If you knew he was in there, why did we wait until now to bust in?" He asked.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "I'm sorry, would you like to go in there when there are two people with guns in there or just one?"

"Right." He said, nodding now that it made sense to him. She saw him carefully glance down to make sure that his vest was on correctly.

"Now, enough questions. I want to be in and out before the brother comes back." She said, looking through the trunk.

"Got it." He said, stepping back and leaning against the car.

She took a deep breath and went through the same procedure she had gone through a thousand times. She had a mental checklist that she went through during every mission.

Boots-tied. Belt- attached firmly. Gun- she pulled it out of the trunk and slid it into the holster at her side. Handcuffs- she slid them into the pouch at the small of her back. Vest- she slid it over her shoulders and pulled the Velcro firmly around her. Badge- she clipped it onto her belt. Second clip to refill her weapon- attached to her belt. She was ready to roll.

She looked up and saw Edward with his arms crossed across his chest and an appreciative smile on his face, having watched the whole process.

"Anyone ever tell you look pretty badass when you take them into custody?" He asked.

"Not yet." She said, grinning at him and closing the trunk.

She started walking towards the apartment and then stopped and turned around, coming face to face with Edward, unaware that he had been following so close. She took a step back and then addressed him.

"You are to stay outside the building. At all times. You're going to remain on the sidewalk until I come outside with the skip. You will not move, nor will you interfere in any way." She said.

"But-"

"No buts, I'm serious. If you mess this up again I swear to god I will handcuff you to something." She said.

He grinned, "Promise?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, tempted to hit him.

She restrained herself and turned back around, continuing to head towards the apartment, keeping close to the building to avoid being seen.

When she was at the front steps, she turned around and pointed towards the sidewalk.

Edward stood there without argument, she could see the excitement on his face and shook her head.

She turned back towards the door and took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself.

Edward figured out what she was about to do and said, "Wait. Don't you need to announce yourself? Like yell out: 'bounty hunter, beware!' or something along those lines?" He whispered.

"Nope." She said, stepping back and bringing her foot to the door, breaking the cheap locking mechanism hearing the loud 'crack' of splintering wood as the door flew open.

She wasted no time and stepped inside, careful to avoid the door when it swung back after hitting the inside wall.

She was in the hallway that split into different sections of the apartment. She didn't have to guess which door was the right one because she heard swearing.

"What the hell was that!" Came from the door at the end of the hall, which quickly opened and revealed a man with a furious expression on his face, her skip. The anger dropped from his face when he saw her and he bolted back into the room.

She ran after her skip, needing to get inside the room before he could either block it with something or get a weapon.

She tried the handle and wasn't surprised to find it locked. She tried running her shoulder into it but it didn't budge. She didn't waste time trying again and stepped back and brought her foot to it, effectively opening it.

She drew her weapon and stepped inside. She raised it slightly and went in with a weaver stance, turning and pointing to each corner, unnerved by the lack of sound.

She stepped forward another step and started sweeping the room with her eyes, looking for an exit he could have taken. The windows had bars on them, all of which were in tact and she didn't see any other exits.

She heard the unmistakable sound of hardwood floor creaking behind her and spun around.

Before her mind could register what was happening, her gun was flying out of her hands and skidding across the floor.

He swung the baseball bat again, aiming for her head this time and she jumped back, losing her balance a bit.

She continued to lean and dodge as he swung in large arc, she could hear it 'swishing' through the air as if passed in front of her nose.

"I am not going back to jail!" He yelled, letting his anger fuel his attack as he advanced towards her.

She didn't respond and tried to focus on getting the bat out of his hands. Waiting until he was at the end of a swing before stepping forward and punching him in the gut. He let out his breath quickly and doubled over slightly, loosening his grip on the bat enough for her to get a hold on it.

She was happy that she was within his arm space and he could no longer swing it at her. She was unhappy that when she tried to pull it from his grasp he got angry and held on tighter and tried to get her to let go.

He dragged her with him as they fought over the bat and he spun her into the bookshelf. She winced when he back met the slabs of wood and heard something shatter as it fell to the ground close to her.

She tried to hold on, but her grip was starting to slip. She kicked and her boot clad foot met his shin. He let out a grunt of pain and growled something unintelligent, his face incredibly close to hers.

"You shouldn't have done that." He said, and the next thing she knew he had a hold on her vest and threw her to the ground behind him.

She coughed as the wind was knocked from her lungs. She forced her eyes open and rolled to the side just in time to avoid the bat that smashed into the floor where her head had been a moment before.

Sweeping her legs out, she used his next step when he was most off balance to bring him stumbling to the ground and send the bat rolling out of arms reach.

She wasted no time and launched herself at him, trying to lock his arms behind his back. He still had a lot of fight in him and tried to roll so that she was beneath him. That was the last thing she wanted, knowing that his superior weight was a huge advantage and she wouldn't have much of a chance after that.

He grabbed at her neck and she elbowed him in the eye before he could get a good grip. He howled and allowed her to gain a momentary advantage. They were grappling on the floor, rolling through something that felt like broken glass and she tried not to wince.

He recovered from her elbow being stuck in his eye and kicked her away from him and she rolled until her back hit the bookcase again. She was breathing heavily and was about to launch herself at him again when she noticed he was looking at something on the ground a few feet away from where he was.

Her gun.

There was a moment where they both looked at each other, and then they lunged for it.

* * *

><p>Edward had been standing there, transferring his weight from one foot to the other. He was imagining what was going on inside, positive that he was missing out on some serious ass kicking.<p>

It had been a couple of minutes since she had gone inside when he heard the noise.

At first it was yelling, which didn't really surprise him. He'd yell too if a girl kicked his door in, even if it was Bella.

'_Okay, maybe not if it was Bella.'_

It was after the yelling that he heard the sound of shuffling and something crashing. He started to transfer his weight out of nervousness rather than boredom.

Scenarios started playing out in his head, it was the gift and curse to being a writer: you have a great imagination.

As he thought about Bella going up against a shotgun or a knife he began to grow even more uneasy.

'_She told you to wait out here no matter what.'_ The rational part of his brain told him.

'_Yeah, but I didn't think it would take this long if everything went alright.'_

He heard another crash come from inside.

He took a deep breath, thinking about it for another half second.

"Screw it." He said, running up the stairs and into the apartment.

* * *

><p>Bella was in an unfortunate position.<p>

They had both dived for the gun, but he had been closer and had gotten a hand on it first.

To prevent him from immediately turning it on her, she used both of her hands to grip the wrist that was holding the gun.

So she was stuck, lying on her side with her hands above her head as she held onto his wrist with all her might.

The unfortunate part was that he still had a free hand to try and kill her with.

He grabbed her arms and tried to pry her grip from his wrist, using his superior strength. She felt a moment of panic in her gut when she lost her grip and the gun her started to turn the gun towards her.

She grabbed at the gun and forced it back up. Now they were face to face in a strength match and her arms were shaking from the effort since he had added his second hand.

Her mind was working furiously to think of another plan as sweat dripped down her forehead.

She thought of something risky as her arm was about to give out.

She took a deep breath and was about to make her move when she heard a loud smash.

Her skip's head fell to the floor and he lay there unconscious as Edward stood above him with a half broken vase in his hands.

The gun dropped onto the floor and she lay there breathing heavily for a moment, looking up at him.

"You okay?" He asked, obviously concerned and slightly shaken.

She didn't answer and instead pushed herself off the ground, trying not to groan. She holstered her weapon and tried to control her breathing. She glanced down at her unconscious skip before looking up at Edward who was also starting at the man on the floor.

"I thought I told you to wait outside?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks for all of the reviews from last chapter, I really enjoy reading them. They give me a good idea of what you guys like about the story and I try to keep them in mind while I write it. So let me know what you thought of this one, especially the fight scene. I'm also going to try something I did from my other story 'Scarlet', if you don't feel like writing out a review, copy and paste one of the following.**

**:) or :( **

**~archer24**


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